Each weekday on this blog you will find an episode of a western short story featuring Rance Dehner, a detective who operates in the old West. When the story concludes, it will be archived for those readers who prefer to read a story from start to finish.

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Monday, September 10, 2012

New to These Parts ? To Start the Story from the Beginning,click Save the Girl!1

Episode Two of Save the Girl!

Episode One concluded with:

Anna looked shocked and then, once again, she
sounded close to hysteria. “Then what about my Maria? What happened to her?”

For a moment, Carrie Whiting stood silently and
watched the panic which contorted Anna’s face. The singer knew the answer to
Anna’s question, but couldn’t speak it out loud.

George McLeod took the flyer from his client and
read the contents. His face went ashen. “I’ll get in touch with Brad Simons,
our lawyer, right away. We’ll put a stop to this!”

“My Maria!” Anna cried loudly, “She go like the
paper say. She not come back. Gone for three days now. The law do nothing. Can
you bring back my Maria?”

“No Anna, I can’t,” Carrie replied. “But I know
somebody who can. We’re going to bring your daughter back to you, Anna.” The
singer pressed her lips together and then added. “I promise. We’ll bring her
back.”

Episode Two

***

Rance Dehner walked cautiously down
Jupiter Street. This was a neighborhood in which Dallas took no pride: a place
where you had to be cautious even in the mid-afternoon. The street was filled
with several saloons, a few brothels, and the desperation that always oozed
from establishments that are intent on grabbing coins from men who have very
few.

Dehner was there on professional
business. The flyer Carrie Whiting had shown him instructed gullible girls to
go to the Palace Theater on Jupiter Street for auditions that would lead to
stardom. The auditions were held by a talent agency with no offices in Dallas.
Maria Martino had followed instructions and had now been missing for three
days. He needed to move fast.

The Palace Theater stood as a parody
of its elegant name. It was situated next to the Laughing Lady Saloon and
looked like it had been built as an afterthought to compliment the booze hole.
A burly, balding man stepped out of the theater carrying a sign, a hammer and a
can of nails. He placed the sign against the front of the theater and dropped
the other items in front of it.

As Dehner approached he read the
sign: The Most Beutiful Gals in Texas!
Show Starts at Eight.

The detective spoke in a good
natured voice. “Excuse me.”

The large man looked inquisitively
at Dehner. People didn’t often say “Excuse me” in this section of town.
“Whaddya want?”

Rance pointed to the sign. “You
misspelled ‘beautiful.’”

“Get outta here.”

“I need to see the manager of this
theater. My name is Rance Dehner.”

“I’m the manager,” he pointed a
thumb at his chest. “Name’s Harry. If you’re an agent trying to sell talent,
forget it. I get plenty of talent from next door.” He gestured with his head
toward the Laughing Lady.

“Do you rent out the Palace much,
Harry?”

“Why d’you wanna know?”

“I’m a curious guy.”

“Yeah, well my time is valuable,
curious guy.”

Dehner handed Harry a coin. “Tell me
what you know about the Philip Richardson Talent Agency.”

“Not much,” Harry pocketed the coin.
“A guy who calls himself Philip Richardson rents the place two or three times a
year. Always in the afternoon. Doesn’t interfere with regular business.”

“What exactly does this guy who
calls himself Philip Richardson do with the Palace Theater when he rents it out
for an afternoon?”

“He holds auditions for shows that
he puts on in another town.”

Dehner saw the leer on Harry’s face
when he gave that answer. The detective’s face remained expressionless as he
handed the theater manager another coin.

“What’s this for?”

“The truth, Harry. You just held out
on me. I’ll let it pass this one time. Now tell me the truth.”

The Posse

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Bio

As a kid, I idolized Hopalong Cassidy, which was the most intelligent choice I made during my first thirty years. Much of my professional life has been spent as a literary agent, but I also wrote westerns to prove I didn’t always have to live off the work of other people.
I can now devote myself full time to writing in a genre I love. I’m being a straight shooter when I say your opinion is important to me. When you have a moment, let me know what you think about Wild West Detective. Alas, the western genre has been riding over some tough territory for several decades. I hope this site can bring new folks into the corral and give them a taste of the fun that the western has given me.
jamesclay20@gmail.com